


Snow Angels & Other Winter Activities

by TheWinchesterSimpleton



Series: Sacred Grounds Winter Annual [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Dean - Freeform, M/M, Snow, Tattoos, castiel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2167830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWinchesterSimpleton/pseuds/TheWinchesterSimpleton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When all of Dean Winchester's employees ditch for the winter holidays, he is forced to take the front. This is where he meets Castiel, a frequent customer whose got the face of an angel and the personality of a book. When Dean finds out that Castiel works on campus as the local librarian, he does everything he can to see the other man, even if it means pretending to be interested in lore about angels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow Angels & Other Winter Activities

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys this is my first fic! I hope you guys enjoy this little one-shot au!

_Oh the weather outside is frightful_  
 _But the fire is so delightful_  
 _And since we've got no place to go_  
 _Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!!_

How beautiful it was, the white snow, the snowflakes would fall from the light blue sky in the morning and when the sun went down, the cold air would wander across him like a soft silken blanket covering his cold face.

From behind the windows of the  _Sacred Grounds_ Dean Winchester looked out into the city.

Carriage rides passed his shop, the college kids weren't so crude to each other, snowflakes collected on the lashes of lovers and the smell of coffee found it's way out of the shop and onto the streets. 

The instant Dean had flipped the sign to _open_ a flurry of people began crowding into his shop, it brought a smile to his face.

By the lunch time he was exhausted, taking the time to wipe down the counters in momentary peace. Today he was the only employee in the shop, unusual for any other season but during the winter he let his employees go home for the holidays.

Sitting down in a freshly cleaned both, he took a cup of Joe for himself and rested his head in his hands.

_Hold me close and hold me fast_

_The magic spell you cast_

_This is la vie en rose_

The winter music had been chosen by Jo, one of his favorite employees, this year. He had been pleasantly surprised. Dean was constantly unimpressed with what new artists put out each year, so instead he preferred the classics.  _La Vie En Rose_ by Louis Armstrong just happened to be one of his favorites.

_When you kiss me heaven sighs_

_And though I close my eyes_

_I see la vie en rose_

The door bell jingled and Dean instantly stood to jump quickly behind the counter.

"Welcome to the Sacred Ground, what can I get for ya?"

The customer was short, at least to Dean. His face was covered by a powder blue scarf that matched his eyes and his hair was covered in a sock monkey hat. He appeared to be wearing several layers of clothing, sweaters over collard shirts was popular with the collage students in the area but this man appeared to old to be a student. 

The newcomer squinted his eyes at Dean and he shuddered under the man's gaze, it was unnerving to say the least. 

"Where is Joe?"

Dean blinked, stunned into temporary amnesia by the man's voice. "Joe?"

 _"_ Yes, Joe Harvelle? She normally works today."

Through a winter miracle Dean recovered and began putting on his black apron before responding.

"I let her take a few weeks off for the holidays. I thought she would enjoy the extra time with her family." 

The man nodded and seemed to consider this before pulling the scarf away from his mouth. 

"Well I'll have just a coffee then, sugar no cream, please." The man sat down at one of the booths and Dean set about making his coffee. 

Whenever he could, Dean would sneak a look at the stranger only to find him looking back. The guy seemed comfortable enough and obviously he had been here before, but never had Dean seen his face.

It was a face he would have remembered.

By the time Dean was done making the guys coffee, he had removed his hat, gloves, and scarf. Dean found the man beautiful and couldn't help but stare as he brought of his drink.

"Here you go, black coffee, sugar no cream for..."

"Castiel." 

The name had a familiar ring to it and it took Dean a moment to realize that Jo had mentioned a Castiel before, not that he had paid close attention to his employee's chatter.

"Castiel, unique name. I haven't heard that before."

"Yes well..." Castiel took his coffee, and smiled. "My father had a penchant for unique names. I even have a brother named Uriel."

He seemed to get quiet after that and Dean took that as his cue to leave the customer alone.

"Well I'm Dean and if you need anything just let me know."

As Dean moved to walk away he felt Castiel grab his wrist. "Wait, why don't you sit with me. I'm sure you've had a busy morning."

"Thanks, I'd love too." Dean grabbed his now cold coffee and sat across from Castiel, enjoying the break. 

"Do you own the place?" Castiel asked, gesturing around the small shop.

"Yeah, I opened it a few years back. I'd never had an interest in school so instead I decided I would start my own business and what's better than coffee? Especially in weather like this." Dean paused to take a sip from his drink before asking, "What about you?"

Castiel seemed to ponder something for a moment before finally , "I work at the college."

Dean widened his eyes, impressed. 

The Harwood University was notoriously hard to attend, not just for students but for teachers as well.  

"What do you teach?"

"I don't," Castiel fidgeted with his coffee, shifting in his seat and looking anywhere accept at Dean. "I'm the head librarian."

"Hey," Dean reached out and grabbed Castiel's hand. Surprising both himself and Castiel. "That's still pretty awesome."

Castiel smiled and Dean's heart fluttered.

"Thank you."

Dean nodded, unable to speak and pulled his hand away.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, just sort of looking at each other, studying the other person's features. When Castiel stood suddenly, Dean jumped. 

"I'm so sorry, I'm late and if I'm late again Zach is going to have my head. Thank you for the coffee."

Castiel quickly shook Dean's hand before running out the door, haphazardly pulling on his jacket and mittens. 

Dean stood slowly, as the initial shock wore off he began to feel a bit disappointed. He had enjoyed Castiel's company, even for such a short time. 

With heavy hands he began to clean again, slowly wiping down tables and booths, avoiding the one that he and Castiel had sat in. When he had cleaned every inch of every surface he turned to the booth and reluctantly began cleaning it. As he reached down to wipe the seats he noticed a spot of blue and reached down to pull up Castiel's scarf. 

A smile stretched its way across Dean's face as he wrapped the scarf around his own neck, he now had the perfect excuse to visit the librarian after work. 

 

That day, Dean closed early; just before the dinner/after school rush.

He didn't mind losing a little income for the day, he would only be paying himself for the next few weeks anyway and the morning rush had covered the days expenses. 

Dean had also decided to walk to the college, Harwood was only a few blocks away and he had neglected to put snow chains on the impala, resulting in an unpleasant drive whenever he got in the car. So instead he walked, wearing Castiel's scarf as it's owner had, covering his mouth and nose. 

Castiel smelled like cinnamon and pine needles, sage and eucalyptus. 

To Dean, Castiel smelled like Christmas.

 

When he arrived at the college campus, he navigated his way to the library with the help of some very friendly students.

As he walked in, he was greeted with the same scent that seemed to be ingrained into the very fabric of Castiel's sweater. The only difference was under the pleasant smell was the aroma of thousands of old books, musty and crisp.

His foot steps echoed in the seemingly empty library and Dean navigated the shelves of books carefully. One of the student's he had spoken to said the librarian was really strict and would kick someone out for walking to loudly. 

"Castiel?" Dean whispered, trying his best to quietly shout. 

With no response he continued to make his way towards the back. "Castiel?"

Finally the bookshelves ended in a small opening, filled with desks and computers. Every chair was filled with students, all quieter than Dean would have though possible. At the head of the desks was a larger one, where Castiel sat reading.

Dean made his way through the desks, causing each student to slowly raise their head and watch as he walked up to Castiel.

"Hey there Cas." He said, feeling pleasantly clever with the nickname he had created for the man. His joy was immediately destroyed when the reading librarian shushed him without even looking up. Taken aback and a little hurt by Castiel's harsh tone he frowned. "I brought you your scarf, you left it at my shop.

He unwound it from around his neck and set it on the desk. It was only then did Castiel look up from his book.

"Thank you Dean." Castiel took the scarf and dropped it under the desk, Dean's frown deepened. 

"I was wondering if..." 

Castiel interrupted him by raising his hand. He stood and gestured for Dean to follow him.

Together they moved through the bookshelves for what seemed like forever before they stopped. As Dean opened his mouth to speak he was surprised by Cas, who whirled around and gave him a brief hug.

"Thank you for bringing me my scarf, Dean. You didn't have to do that." Cas's voice was a soft whisper, leaving Dean to blush in the dim library lights. "I'm sorry I was so rude, Zach had been breathing down my neck all week and I couldn't risk the students telling him that I was being unprofessional during work."

"I understand." Dean couldn't imagine why students wouldn't have anything better to gossip about than the librarian but he did understand. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner with me tonight. There is a small restaurant about a block away from my shop that makes the best winter meals, my brother works there and it's really great." Dean realized he was rambling, but he was nervous. A feeling he hadn't had the misfortune of having for a long time.

Castiel put his hand on Dean's arm to quiet him and smiled. "I would love too."

Dean smiled in relief. "What time do you get off work?"

Castiel looked down at his watch, "In about thirty minutes? Do you think you could wait around here until then?"

"Of course!" Dean said a little to loudly, which resulted in a little push from Cas.

"Quietly..."

"Of course." Dean whispered as softly as he could, causing Castiel to chuckle. 

"I'll meet you at the doors in thirty then." With that, Cas was gone. 

For thirty minutes Dean browsed the library, it was huge. Filled with books in languages that looked like they should have been dead for thousands of years. One section did catch his interest, titled Lore. 

He was flipping through a book on angels when a student appeared besides him. At first Dean took no notice, but it was hard to ignore the girl's hard stare.

"Are you Mr. Novak's boyfriend?"

Dean choked on his breath. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you Mr. Novak's boyfriend?"

The girl had plain blonde hair, that covered her face. Large wire frame glasses and over sized clothes, she reminded him of every stereotypical library go-er he'd ever seen.

"Ah no, he's just a..."Dean struggled for the right word. "Friend."

The girl nodded like she didn't believe a word he'd said and turned away, murmuring under her breath as she went. 

_That was weird._

Dean put back the book and began making his way towards to door, where Castiel stood waiting. 

"Sorry, I got a bit lost."

Castiel chuckled and slipped on his mittens. "It's fine, it took me a week to get the layout of this place, and I'm here seven hours a day."

After Castiel was all bundled up(with his blue scarf wrapped around his neck once more), Dean pushed open the library door. "Ready?"

"Let's go." Cas smiled in reply.

 

It was an hour later that the pair stumbled into the restaurant, shaking from the cold. The pair shook snow from their hair like a couple of stray animals before walking up to the seating host, where they were greeted with a hearty laugh.

"Dean! You look like a dog, coming in here and making a mess like that." The man at the podium was older, with a graying beard and hair. He wore a t-shirt and jeans, with a plaid jacket over it. In all it was much more casual than Castiel had expected.

"Sorry Bobby, we just spent an hour out in that and couldn't wait to get in." Dean replied with a smile and clapped the man on his shoulder. 

"Table for two?" Bobby asked, looking at Castiel curiously. 

"Bobby, this is Castiel. Castiel, this is Bobby, a family friend." Bobby reached out and shook Castiel's hand firmly.

"Pleasure to meet a friend of Dean's."

"Pleasure's all mine."

Bobby escorted the two to a booth near one of the windows. The restaurant was small, a few booths around the edges and four tables in the center. The windows where covered in plastic Christmas lights and snowflake stickers, the whole place smelled of Christmas.

"It's charming." Castiel said when they had been seated. 

"I've come here every day for as long as I could remember. Bobby owns the place and all my friends and family have worked here at one point or another."

Cas looked as though he was about to reply when a shadow fell over their table. Without looking away from Cas's face, whose eyes had gone wide, Dean introduced his brother.

"Cas, the moose is my baby brother Sammy, he means no harm I promise." Dean looked up then to see his brother's bitch face staring down at him. 

"Dean, just because you have company doesn't mean I won't beat the shit out of you. It's Sam."

"Come on Sammy, where's your Christmas spirit." Dean smiled at him but he only rolled his eyes. 

"What can I get you?" Sam asked Castiel, who looked amused at their exchange. 

"I see you have some hot chocolate, I'll take a mug of that." 

Sam smiled and scratched it down on his pad before walking away.

"Hey, what about me?" Dean called after him.

"I already know what you want! Let me guess, a beer?"

Castiel chuckled and for the sake of his pride, Dean called after him. "Bitch!"

"Jerk!"

"So, hot chocolate?"

Castiel moved his eyes over the menu and smiled, "I don't imbibe."

"That's...cool." Dean could respect that, even if he couldn't understand it. The alcohol would warm him right up and that's really all he wanted right then. "Does anything sound good to you?"

"This Turkey Dinner...is that okay?" 

"That's one of my favorites, actually." 

Castiel smiled, the one that made his eyes crinkle at the corners and made Dean's heart do cartwheels. The rest of dinner went that way. Each telling the others about their interests, Cas in books, large sweaters, and animals, Dean in coffee, cars, and snow. The longer dinner went on, the more Dean's heart warmed to the man, and by the time the bill was paid, Dean didn't want the night to end.

"So, I'm sure you'd rather take a cab than walk from here?"

Castiel nodded but seemed to be considering something before taking Dean's hand. "Actually, my apartment isn't to far from here, if you'd like to walk me."

 

Together they braved the stormy winter night and once again ended up stumbling into a building, shaking their heads and shivering. 

"We should really stop doing that." Dean chuckled and waited for Cas to make the next move.

"Well come on up, I'm not going to force you back out into that." 

After three flights of stairs that warmed Dean back up, he found himself in a cozy, one room apartment. There was a small kitchen area, with only a small cook top, refrigerator, and coffee pot. A queen size bed took up most of the space, along with shelves filled with books and a radio that was sitting on the windowsill. Dean glanced out the window to find a direct view of the college campus to the right, and to the left, an almost view of his coffee shop.

"Cozy." Dean commented as Cas set about moving stacks of books into corners and turning on the heat. 

"Well, I like to think so. By living in a small apartment, I can use the rest of my salary for books, sweaters, and over priced coffee at this little place I know."

Dean turned to look at Cas, whose face was lit up with amusement. "My coffee is not over priced!"

Dean knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he didn't care. 

"Relax, Dean." Finally Castiel stopped moving and settled on the bed, removed his snow boots. Dean sat next to him and did likewise. Together they discarded layer after layer of clothing until they where both in only a pair of jeans and sweaters. 

Castiel's next words where mumbled and it took Dean a moment to decipher the words, "If you'd like to stay the night, I have some sweat pants you could borrow."

When he finally sorted through the words, Dean leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Castiel's cheek. "I'd love too." 

That night, they laid on Castiel's bed, wrapped in each others arms for warmth. Castiel hadn't wanted to go to far on their first date and Dean could only agree, so instead they fell asleep to the lull of Christmas tunes on Castiel's radio.

_Hold me close and hold me fast_

_The magic spell you cast_

_This is la vie en rose_

_When you kiss me heaven sighs_

_And though I close my eyes_

_I see la vie en rose_

_When you press me to your heart_

_I'm in a world apart_

_A world where roses bloom_

_And when you speak_

_Angels sing from above_

_Everyday words seem_

_To turn into love song_

_Give your heart and soul to me_

_And life will always be la vie en rose_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
